Liverpool’s 3-1 win at home to Southampton wasn’t pretty, but the media hailed yet another step towards Premier League title glory.
Arne Slot sat in the stands as the Reds floundered in the first half, trailing 1-0 at half-time to their bottom-of-the-table opponents.
Liverpool were far better after the break, though, with Darwin Nunez making it 1-1 and Mohamed Salah scoring two penalties.
Here’s the best of the media reaction to another important Reds victory.
Results now matter more than performances…
Ian Doyle of the Liverpool Echo felt it was a Jekyll and Hyde performance by Liverpool:
“Very much a game of two halves for LFC this afternoon.
“Dreadful in the first half, better after that and just too good for Southampton.”
Lewis Steele of the Daily Mail echoed that sentiment:
“Liverpool’s attack was this week compared to ‘three fighter jets’ by Paris Saint-Germain boss Luis Enrique.”
“For 45 languid minutes against lowly Southampton, they resembled more of a run-of-the-mill plane with propellers, struggling to take flight.
“For the next 45, though, Arne Slot‘s men looked like the Red Arrows, zooming through the sky. Blink and you’ll miss them.”
Chris Bascombe of the Telegraph focused on the good and bad of Nunez, following another up-and-down performance:
“Liverpool’s latest victory en route to the promised land of being Premier League champions owed everything to peak Darwin Nunez.
“There have been far better Liverpool footballers than Nunez. There have been a lot worse, too.
“But none have so consistently delivered moments of exasperation and euphoria in the same game, nor invited such howls of frustration and jubilation in the same breath.”
The Guardian‘s Andy Hunter said Liverpool’s won’t get away with this level of display against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday:
“There was much to encourage and concern Arne Slot – and Paris Saint-Germain for that matter – as the Liverpool head coach looked down from the Anfield directors’ box on another victorious step towards the Premier League title.
“The leaders toiled against Southampton until a triple half-time substitution ignited the spark that resulted in a 16-point lead at the summit. PSG may not be so forgiving.”
Liverpool’s squad depth shone through again…
Not for the first time this season, David Lynch praised Slot’s substitutions:
“You could see how little Arne Slot thought of that first-half performance from the fact he made three substitutions.
“But, as was the case in Paris and throughout the season as a whole, his changes completely altered the course of the game.”
Liverpool 3-1 Southampton: 5 talking points as Anfield plays part in half-time wakeup
Meanwhile, the Athletic‘s Andy Jones went into more detail about the influence of the substitutes:
“The impact of those substitutions was almost immediate as Elliott forced a save from Aaron Ramsdale in the second half’s opening minutes, which ignited the Anfield crowd.
[…]
“Mac Allister provided more control in the middle of the park, using the ball smartly to start attacks.
“Robertson was an upgrade on Tsimikas, after the Greece international endured a difficult first half, and his front-foot defending and running from deep provided an extra attacking dimension.
“Collectively, the trio added an energy that had been missing from Liverpool’s first-half performance.”
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